Home school enrollment on roll - 74 percent rise since 1999

[The Straight Story]

Home school enrollment on roll

February 2, 2009

Home schooling has been on the rise for the past five years, and at the end of 2007, 1.5 million children were learning at home.

That’s a 74 percent rise since the Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics started keeping track of the number in 1999.

Shaun and Beth LePage are among the parents who have decided to home-school their five children, ages 1 to 9.

“We just began to meet families who were home schooling and at first we thought they were freakish and had no idea why they would do that,” said Shaun, senior pastor of Community Bible Church in west Lawrence.

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The 2007 report found that there were a number of reasons for home schooling. Those included moral or religious reasons, family time and finances.

“There’s those who think the best socialization is the traditional school model where you have a bunch of kids together and then a few adults,” Shaun said. “Our experience has been that home-schooled kids will typically interact with parents or adults better, as well as younger kids and kids of different ages.”

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2009/feb/02/home-school-enrollment-roll/?city_local

For the record, my daughter is home schooled this year.

[rockymountaindem]

1. Then you must be a fundie whacko or inbred troglodyte

Which is it?

:sarcasm:

[The Straight Story]

4. only on weekends (oh, and I smoke too and like guns)

:)

[YOY]

2. What do you expect? The system is totally being abused by fundies.

The homeschooling system was created for a reason and it wasn't so fundamentalists could protect their kids from Darwin...

Granted sometimes homeschooling is an viable option but let's face facts...it's totally abused by some.

I've heard stories of truly gifted kids who have very well educated parents doing it because they cannot afford private school or it is located too far from where they work and I knew a girl who was HSed for a year because her parents were sailing around the world. Will I shit on them? No. The parents did all they could to make sure the kids get what they needed.

I've heard another story about a kid who was bullied every day so his mother home schooled them until they could move to a different neighborhood. Can't blame the parents there too much for protecting their kid from actual harm.

[RandySF]

3. Wonderful

That means a 74% increase in snotty, anti-social adults in about 12 years.

[Cherise J.]

5. I home school my son also.

I home school my son also and that's because the teachers now and days seem to only be there for a check.Now i know my son is not best or worst but i've noticed that they give up the kids a lot faster.Until i found someone to help me with him homeschool it is.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[mahina]

12. Hi, welcome to DU.

I was thinking about home schooling my son at one point when he was in second grade, as his teacher had a long history of problems. All of the teachers that he's had before and since that woman have been wonderful, though, so I'm glad we decided to stay in school. He is now studying engineering as a sophmore in college.

I am curious about how you might supplement your own areas of lesser expertise? How would we raise children who are better prepared than we are? Would we be limiting our kids to our own strengths and weaknesses? We all have them...materials aside, if we aren't particularly great at writing or math, how would we help our kids excell?

Thanks!
p.s. The school did let us change classes when I told them that I was pulling him out if he was not moved. That poor woman, what a miserable soul. Thank goodness for all the very fine teachers he had otherwise.

[pampango]

6. I have to admit that I think home schooling is bad for the social cohesion

of the country in the long run, although I understand, as a parent, that it is a logical choice for families who do not feel that their public school choices are adequate.

I am a strong believer in a strong and effective public school system to provide an equitable education and sense of community for children as they grow. Having been an urban school teacher, I am well aware that that idealism and what is best for the "community" can be overwhelmed by considerations of what is best for your child. (Reminds me that the Obamas probably want to support public education, but had to make a decision that was best for their children. That didn't involve home schooling but did avoid the public school system which was not an adequate option.)

I worked with the GED program for a while before I got a teaching position. Home schooled children had to take the GED to qualify for a diploma. I have to admit that those with whom I dealt were among the brightest and best adjusted students I have come across before then or since.

[mzteris]

8. based on my personal experience,

the majority of people who homeschool are doing so because of academic concerns. The "fundies" are only one portion of the hs community and should not be considered the driving force.

[Andy823]

10. You are right.

Living in a small community is hard because they do not offer classes that larger schools do. Home schooling on the internet has allowed my kids to have access to more choices in what classes they can take. There is also the safety factor with so many wannabe gang bangers in the area we live in. It's a small community, but we still have that problem, and it has gotten much worse.

[rangersmith82]

11. My kids are home schooled

And my son has completed high school and he is only 17 yrs old.

He is a lifeguard at the Air force base, and has not been robbed of his social skills.

Both of my sons are BSA Life Scouts and will soon be Eagle Scouts.

This way he gets a good education and doesn't have to be around all the druggie/trouble making kids that will bring them down.

Our Home school group has days of the week where they meet at the community center for certain classes(Biology, Chemistry etc)

Don't believe that every home schooled kid is some kind of back woods hermit.

If the public schools weren't so fucked up, we wouldn't have to home school them.

I would sell everything I own to send my kids to private school, to keep them out of public school.

Luckily I married a former teacher which provides my children with a excellent education, more money saved for their college.

[mahina]

13. You're so lucky you married a former teacher!

I can see this would make a big difference. For those who can stay home, home schooling can be a great solution to some of our problems. I'm with you on your point that if public schools weren't such a mess, things would be so much better.

[Andy823]

9. Both of my kids are home schooled

My daughter has been doing it for 2 years, and this is the first year for my son. The program we are in is done on the internet, and it goes from 9th grade through 12th. There are some other programs that have come out in the last year or so that go all the way from kindergarten to the 12th grade. They are offered classes that they could not get going to the local public school, and it allows them to work on their assignments any time they want. They really like it, and it allows them to be home to help out more. They get their work done in less time, and don't have to worry about spending all day at school, then coming home and doing all the homework.

This winter stared out for us with lots and lots of snow. I have a lot of plowing to do at home and at our place of business, and also plow for another business my wife manages for her brother. It was a great help this year with my son being home. He helped me shoveling and using the snowblower while I plowed. He was able to help out and still get his work done in about the same time he would have spent at school, and then had to come home and to his homework.

The reasons for us doing this program had to do with bullying at school, gang banger wannabes that were causing problems, and a lack of school officials wanting to deal with the problems.

[BlooInBloo]

14. Reallly no good choices... Either way, the kids are virtually assured of turning into adult idiots.